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Today — 9 March 2026Main stream

M5 Pro & M5 Max MacBook Pro review roundup: More of the same, at a higher price

Early reviews of the M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models are here, and while the improved performance is good, nobody is a fan of the $200 price increase.

Open laptop on a desk showing a colorful welcome screen with a lake, large rocks, and distant snowy mountains, against a softly lit blurred office background
Early reviews of the M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro are here.

The M5 Pro and M5 Max versions of the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro were announced on March 3, offering better performance. The two laptops are spec bump upgrades, meaning there's effectively no other change, relative to the preceding M4 Pro and M4 Max models.

As a result, most reviews of the new laptop configurations focus largely on the processing hardware, what it can do, and how it performs in various tasks, be they hardware-intensive or not.


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Studio Display XDR review roundup: Pro display hardware, with a few caveats

Early reviews of the $3299 Apple Studio Display XDR are here, and while they overwhelmingly praise the hardware, there are a few shared points of criticism.

Large desktop monitor on a desk displaying macOS settings over a dark abstract wallpaper, with another smaller Apple display nearby in a modern, well-lit workspace
Early Apple Studio Display XDR reviews are here.

The Apple Studio Display XDR debuted on March 3, replacing the Apple Pro Display XDR. Reviews of the new high-end external display began appearing on Monday, shortly after the iPhone maker lifted its embargo.

Various publications were quick to higlight the 120Hz refresh rate support and the miniLED backlight of the Apple Studio Display XDR as positive attributes, but there was no shortage of criticism, either.


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macOS 26.4 beta 4 lets everyone use the colorful MacBook Neo wallpapers

Wallpapers created for the all-new MacBook Neo have now been made available to all macOS Tahoe users, as of macOS 26.4 beta 4.

Open laptop with thin black bezel displaying colorful abstract wallpaper of rounded rectangles in yellow, green, and turquoise gradients against a soft yellow-to-teal gradient background
MacBook Neo wallpapers are now available for all Macs, as of macOS 26.4 beta 4.

On March 4, Apple announced the MacBook Neo, a colorful budget-oriented laptop, powered by an iPhone chip. The low-end Mac is available in four bright color options — Blush, Citrus, Indigo, and Silver, each with a matching wallpaper.

The MacBook Neo ships with a special build of macOS 26.3, AppleInsider as predicted. All other Macs will need macOS 26.4 beta 4 to get the wallpapers made for the machine.


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Bigfoot, Orca, a Trombone, and five more new emoji are here with iOS 26.4 beta 4

The fourth developer beta of iOS 26.4 delivers eight new emoji characters, including a treasure chest, a distorted face, and more. Here's what's new.

Collection of colorful emojis: treasure chest, ballerina, jumping orca, trombone, exploding cloud, landslide, walking Bigfoot, and a wide-eyed blushing face centered on a white background
iOS 26.4 beta 4 offers several new emoji characters.

On Monday, a week after the release of iOS 26.4 developer beta 3, Apple unveiled the fourth developer-focused beta of iOS 26.4.

Among other changes, the beta iOS update introduces a new set of fun emoji characters, first previewed in July 2025 with Unicode 17.


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